Drafting

The expert task of putting constitutional ideas into precise legal language that those who will employ the constitution, including the courts, are able to interpret. The word is often used to refer to a logically prior phase when ideas are put into a structured document, often called the draft constitution. Unfortunately, in many processes, constitutional commissions and constituent assemblies take it upon themselves to produce the final words of the document, even though they do not fully understand the words’ legal meanings and implications.